Not a horror film, but very good

Rating: 9/10 (19 February 2009)

I don't see this as a horror film. That they marketed it as one meant I never paid to see it, paid to rent it, or considered buying it. Only that I use a public library to watch films I'd never bother seeing otherwise led me to this film, and I felt cheated by the PR department for making me miss it originally. This is not a zombie film for teens. This is a grown-up film that explores an interesting idea or set of ideas.
In addition to being intellectually engaging, in addition to keeping me worried about the fate of our protagonists, the film was just gorgeous. There are easily two dozen shots that could be paintings in the world's great museums. I was blown away by this and did not anticipate it, so it was one of those truly pleasant surprises (the opposite of what I usually get from films, where people tell me how wonderful a film is and then I say "ehhh, not awful." Those pushing the film itself made me think, "this is going to be junk," and it was far from that.
I have to wonder what they were thinking. I suppose since teens spend most money on films, marketing it in a way that attracts that spendy audience would guarantee some minimal gross. But here I am, a real lover of artistically done films about serious subjects, an educated adult over 50, and this movie was really for me. Because of the marketing, I would have never known this were it not for the accident of the library being out of anything I thought I wished to see. Admittedly, I'm no expert on film marketing, but it seemed to me they missed their real audience.
Also, Brendan Gleeson is in it, and I like him so much, I could probably watch him make out a grocery list for fifteen minutes on film. He does much more, of course, but his presence added to the experience for me.